Kody Richter remains in intensive care in Edmonton, but help is coming in.

On Feb. 11, the carpenter was at the Pinnacle Renewable Energy plant in Entwistle when an explosion occurred and injured him and two others. The Evansburg resident was not a company employee and was there for contracted maintenance.

According to friends of he and partner Katie Richardson, it was shocking as opposed to tragic at first announcement, but they are working through the scare.

“We were all pretty shocked here to have received the call and are just trying to support Katie,” Stony Plain resident and friend Laura Schneider said. “We did not really know what was going on. I started a GoFundMe because I did not want them to worry about finances. Katie and Kody are good and upstanding people.”

Schneider went on to add, as Richardson is a contractor, she does not have insurance for loss of wages. Fellow friend, and second GoFundMe creator Casey Szautner, said a similar thing could be the case for Richter. He estimated his peer may need a year to recover if all goes well and bills do not take any vacations.

“He is still in the ICU,” he said. “That is not good. He will probably be OK, but it is a long road to recovery. There is a mortgage and car and equipment payments.”

To date, Szautner and Schneider have raised more than $5,000 for Richter across each of their campaigns with goals of $25,000 and $3,000 respectively. British Columbia-based Pinnacle has suspended operations at the plant and says an investigation is under way into the cause, though, before, concerns were present.

According to the CBC, before the incident, the site was investigated for safety concerns brought by workers. When asked if it could have been prevented, Szautner declined to comment and just noted his discontent.

“Whether it was preventable or not I do not know but it is definitely upsetting,” Szautner said. “He was just there for maintenance.”

Representatives from Pinnacle Renewable Energy defended their record and did say in a press release after the incident they are offering support to those in need.

If you would like to donate to Richter’s recovery, search for In Support of Kody Richter’s Recovery or Help Kody Richter Recovery on GoFundMe.com.